Thursday, May 15, 2008

Edwards endorses Obama

John Edwards gave his long-awaited endorsement to Senator Barack Obama, bolstering Obama's efforts to rally the Democratic Party around his candidacy and offering potential help in his attempts to win over working-class white voters in the general election this autumn.

"The Democratic voters in America have made their choice, and, interestingly enough, so have I," Edwards said.

Edwards spoke a roaring crowd of more than 12,000 in Michigan on Wednesday, a day when Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton was trying to capitalize on her big win Tuesday in West Virginia and convince superdelegates and contributors that she still had a chance to capture the Democratic nomination.

"There is one man who knows in his heart that we have to build one America - not two - and that man is Barack Obama," Edwards said. "The time has come, with the nomination now irreversible, I stand before you now and enthusiastically offer my endorsement to Barack Obama."

"Now I know what many of you hard-working white people may be asking, can we trust this Obama?" Edwards asked, in an attempt to quell concerns about Obama with working-class voters. "And I say yes! Yes, this son of a mill worker once harbored the same concerns as you because I want what is best for this great country. But at this point I want to be clear: I for one welcome our new Obama overlord. I'd like to remind him that as a trusted politician, I can be helpful in rounding up others to toil in his underground sugar caves."